Antebellum
by Caspartine
Summary: The arrival of Xerxes Break at the Rainsworth household was dramatic, to say the least. For Liam Lunettes, life certainly became more interesting after it. This is the story of how Break adjusted to life in his new home, and how he and Liam became friends.
1. Chapter 1

Liam would always remember the day the stranger arrived, partly because of the unexpectedness and drama of the whole thing, and partly because, after that day, his life was never quite the same again.

It was on a clear September day, just at the very last edge of summer, when there was beginning to be a chill in the mornings, but the afternoons were still long and warm. Liam, then a gangly lad just entering his teens, was staying at the Rainsworth house at the behest of Lady Sheryl. She was really too kind to him. There had been a day when he had shown reluctance at returning to his master, Duke Barma, for fear of the man's tendency to take out his anger on Liam, and so he had summarily been invited to stay. Barma hadn't been happy, but in the face of the determination of the Rainsworth women, there was little he could do.

That day, the Rainsworth family was entertaining a guest in the garden, and both Liam and young Sharon, Lady Shelly's daughter, were required to attend. They sat around the table, and sipped tea, and chatted in the formal, polite language of the upper classes. Sharon sat obediently, and was quite throughout the adults' conversation. Liam was only half-listening himself. Despite being old enough to take tea with the adults, he still wasn't all that interested in their doings, both in and out of Pandora, and would much rather have been in the library with a good book, or doing that paperwork he had been assigned, as part of preparing him for his future at Pandora.

Liam's master had recognized early on that Liam wasn't much of a fighter, and, though she never said so, Lady Sheryl seemed to agree. And so, though Liam was consistently being trained in all the skills a Pandora member might require at any time, he seemed mostly to be being groomed for a life of deskwork. Liam didn't mind. He was a planner and organizer by nature, and the less fieldwork he had to do, the more time he would have to lose himself in a book during his free time, and the less chance he would have of meeting an untimely end.

Liam's wandering mind was snapped back into focus when Lady Shelly said, "Why don't you take Sharon out into the park, Liam? I'm sure she's had enough of listening to us old folks." Indeed, for the last little while, Sharon had been looking increasingly restless. Her face lit up at her mother's words. Liam too was quite glad of the chance to get away. The two of them practically lept from their seats, and, with a quick bow and a curtsey to their guests, headed briskly in the direction of the wooded area that was part of the Rainsworth estate.

When they were out of view of the grownups, Sharon burst into a run, yelling behind her, "Catch me if you can, Liam!"

"We'll see about that," he cried out, and chased after her. Ah, it was good to be free from all the formal restriction, at least for a time. They chased in and out of the trees for a while, Liam, in the immortal tradition of playing with younger children, making sure that he never ran quite fast enough to catch Sharon. Eventually, though, he felt himself getting tired, and put on a final burst of speed, using his long legs to his advantage, and caught up with little Sharon, grabbing her arm gently, and crying out, "I got you!"

Together, they flopped to the grass, their breaths coming in short gasps, the silliest of grins on their faces. They lay there for a bit, listening to the birds chirp and the rustling wind in the branches overhead. It was very peaceful. Then Sharon jumped up, and declared "I'm 'it' this time!" and they were running again. Eventually their game lead them into the house, and, somehow, all the way down to the Rainsworth's Abyss Gate. When they realized where they were, they paused, somewhat uneasy. The area wasn't actually forbidden, but they had been subtly discouraged from going there since before they could remember. Just as they were deciding whether or not to go back upstairs, there was a sudden change in the air. Liam felt a peculiar pressure on his skin, accompanied by a weird sort of anti-sound, a kind of unheard screeching. His hair stood on end and his teeth ached.

"Do you feel that?" he asked, his voice tense.

Before she could reply, there was an implosion behind them, and they whirled around. Where before, there had only been the large, imposing Gate, now at its foot there lay a man. His clothes were somewhat old fashioned, his hair long and white, though he looked to be in his early twenties, and his face was covered in blood, most of it stemming from his left eye. He was barely conscious, and was looking around somewhat wildly with an eye that was, to Liam's surprise, wine red in colour, though hazy with pain and confusion.

The two children stood frozen for a minute, before Liam, shaking himself from his shock, ordered Sharon, "Go, and get your mother! And some servants. And tell someone to call the doctor!" Sharon nodded mutely, and ran off towards the house.

In the meantime, Liam knelt beside the stranger. "It's ok," said Liam shakily, "You'll be alright. Help is coming. My name's Liam, what's yours?" The stranger didn't answer. Instead, he stared blearily at Liam for another minute, without seeming to really see him, before falling down unconscious. Trying to remember the rudimentary emergency medical training he had received, Liam examined the man for injuries. With the exception of his eye, he seemed mostly unharmed, though Liam knew that internal injuries were possible. And if the damage was severe, there was always the possibility of going into shock. He dithered, hesitating to touch the man. For all his book learning, in an actual situation such as this one, all he was was a scared kid who had no idea what to do.

Thankfully, it was only a few minutes later that Lady Shelly arrived, with the butler and two manservants in tow. She took one look at the situation, and then directed the men to bring the stranger upstairs. Liam followed behind, all the way to one of the spare bedrooms, where they lay the man on the bed to wait for the doctor. He felt somehow responsible for this stranger who had suddenly dropped into their midst. He hovered in the corner until the doctor came in, and then he was spotted and unceremoniously turfed out of the room. After that, he went back into his own room to wait for news.

He didn't hear anything until midway through the next day, when both Lady Sheryl and Lady Shelly called him to the sitting room.

Lady Sheryl looked at him over her glasses, and said, "So, you were there when that man arrived, were you."

It wasn't a question, but he still replied, "Yes, milady."

"Tell us exactly what happened."

He briefly related the events of yesterday, in almost exact detail. Liam had a very good memory, and when his master had found out about it, he had been given lessons in enhancing it, so that his reports were always extremely accurate. It was a talent that would serve him well in the years to come, though sometimes he remembered things that would perhaps best be forgotten.

When he was finished, Lady Shelly smiled and thanked him. "And you will be glad to know that the doctor believes that young man will make a good recovery, once he's regained consciousness. His left eye is completely gone, though. Whatever he went through, it must have been quite awful."

After that, Liam was dismissed. He went to the library, and immersed himself in his own private world of books for the remainder of the day.


	2. Chapter 2

A few days later, Liam got to meet the stranger properly. The man had woken up the day before, and had even been well enough to go to Lady Sheryl. When Liam saw him heading there, he went straight to his listening place. Some time ago, he had discovered a crack in the wall of Lady Sheryl's study that let one listen in on any conversation going on in the room. He didn't do it all that often, but he felt that he was somewhat justified this time, since he had been one of the ones to discover the stranger. He had listened as the man first explained that he had been in the Abyss, where time passed quite differently, and had come out to find that he was no longer in his original time period. He had asked about a noble family called the Sinclairs. Lady Sheryl had sounded puzzled that he should mention them, but had informed the man that they had been dead for fifty years.

"All of them?" the stranger had asked in a tight voice.

"I'm afraid so."

The conversation after that was brief and muffled, so that Liam couldn't hear it very well, and the only other thing Liam discovered was the stranger's name- "Xerxes Break".

'Xerxes Break', Liam had thought when he heard it, 'what a strange name.' It sounded like the kind of name little Sharon would give one of her dolls, and not a name for a person at all.

A couple of days later, Lady Shelly took Liam and Sharon up to Break's bedroom. Though it was the middle of the day, the curtains were drawn and the room was dark. The two children peered inside, as Lady Shelly crossed the room, and opened the curtains. Liam at last spotted the stranger, sitting on the chair in the corner with his arms wrapped around his knees. His left eye was covered in bandages, and his long white hair had been carefully brushed and put into a ponytail that hung over his shoulder. He had a closed expression on his face, but he looked up as the light entered the room, his red eye blinking rapidly.

"Xerxes, I want to introduce you to the two who found you when you arrived. This is my daughter Sharon Rainsworth, and this is Liam Lunettes of the Barma household."

Liam bowed and Sharon curtsied. "I remember you," said Break slowly, his voice hoarse, and then he just stared at them for a good minute, face unreadable. His mouth twitched slightly when he looked at Sharon, either into a smile or a grimace, Liam had no idea. The silence stretched on until Lady Shelly suddenly said, "Alright, shall we let Xerxes get some rest?" And she proceeded to usher the children out of the room.

It took a while, but eventually Break was coaxed out into the sitting room, where he would sit in the window seat, appearing to look out the window, but apparently not seeing any of it. He would scarcely ever respond when spoken to, though that didn't stop Lady Shelly from sitting for hours at a time, talking to him about everything and anything, trying to draw him from his shell. Liam didn't envy her the task. Whatever Break had been through, it was beyond Liam's imagining.

One day, things came to a head when the Rainsworths were entertaining some Pandora members. Everyone was standing around talking, though sometimes casting curious looks at Break over in the window seat. Break seemed to be getting more and more agitated at the attention, and was scratching at his bandage. Liam, from his place in the corner of the room, noticed that blood was beginning to stain the white linen. 'He's going to get it infected,' thought Liam.

"Stop it!" he cried, and before he knew it, he was across the room and grabbing Break's arm, pulling his hand away from his face. "You can't do that!"

In a split second, the older man reacted, violently pushing Liam to the floor. His glasses flew across the room, and the world went out of focus.

"Leave me alone! Don't come near me!" he yelled. Liam sat sprawled on the floor, stunned and half-blind, as the man almost screamed, "Don't...don't look at me!" The tone of voice itself was enough to frighten him. If he had been able to make out his expression, Liam would likely have been frozen completely in fear. There was a tense, breathless moment.

Then, movement to Liam's right, and suddenly he could see clearly again. Lady Shelly had knelt before him and replaced his glasses. Behind her, he saw that Break had slumped to the floor and was panting heavily.

"Are you alright, Liam?" she asked.

There was a sharp pain across his face from when his glasses had been knocked off, but that was already fading. Liam was more shaken than he was hurt. "I...I'm fine, Lady Shelly." He slowly got to his feet, and dusted himself off.

"Good," she smiled, and then turned to Break. She spoke to him in a quiet voice, as if talking to a wounded animal, "Come on, now, Xerxes, let's go outside and get some fresh air, shall we?"

She held out her hand. For a moment, Liam thought Break would bat it aside, or ignore her completely, but instead he took it, and let himself be brought to his feet and lead out of the room.

Once again, Liam took refuge in the library. By this time, autumn had nearly passed, and the chill in the library as he entered and got the fire going told him that winter would not be long in coming now. He slipped into an armchair with a giant leather-bound book. It was an encyclopedia of all the Chains currently known to Pandora, and contained lists of their powers, former Contractors, and their last appearances, dating all the way back to the Tragedy of Sablier. Some entries even contained sketches of the Chains, though usually only the better known ones like the Nightrays' Raven or Barma's Dodo.

Liam's reason for reading the book was twofold. First, that his master had instructed him to, as part of his education, and second, that Liam liked to try and imagine which one he would contract with once he was old enough. Most of them he couldn't imagine himself working with- they were too terrifying. There was the B-Rabbit, known for its brutality, and Mad Hatter, notoriously wild and difficult to control. Even the tamest, most weak-looking Chains seemed fearsome in Liam's eyes, and a few that he thought might have been alright for him hadn't been contracted with in over half a century, making it unlikely they were still around. But still he perused the book, because if there was any kind of power Liam thought he could wield with any skill, it was the power of knowledge. Not to mention the fact that this work could keep his mind off the still-stinging bridge of his nose, and the man who had caused it. 'Yes,' thought Liam, 'it's probably best to stay out of the way of Xerxes Break.'

_Just a note: A few of the lines used in the scene when Break hits Liam are taken almost straight out of the manga, and so I take no credit for them._


	3. Chapter 3

That winter, Liam didn't see much of Break. He found he didn't actually have to go out of his way to avoid him, as their paths seldom crossed. Mostly, Break could be found in the sitting room with Lady Shelly and little Sharon, and Liam spent the larger part of his own time in the library. Once, as Liam was working his way down to the kitchen for a late lunch, he spotted the three of them outside in the newly fallen snow. Sharon was making a snowman with Lady Shelly's help, and Break was standing nearby, watching them. As Liam watched, Shelly left Sharon to her own devices, and made her way over to Break. Liam couldn't see what she said to him, but to his surprise, the man answered, seemingly politely, though briefly.

On another occasion, Liam was searching for a servant to tell about a crack in the window of his room when he wandered into the nursery. Sharon sat sprawled on the floor, dolls scattered around her, and Break was on a chair nearby. Sharon got up and brought one of her dolls to Break, a strange-looking thing with a tumbling mass of thick brown hair.

"This is Emily," she told him. Liam thought the man wouldn't take it, but to his surprise, Break accepted the doll and sat it on his lap.

"Nice to meet you, Emily," he said, though there was no emotion in his voice, as if he was simply saying it to be polite, and his expression didn't change.

'Is he actually trying to be nice to her?' wondered Liam, before Sharon spotted him.

"Liam! Xerx-nii's meeting all my dolls today."

"Xerx-nii?" asked Liam

"Yes, and later we're going to have a tea-party."

"Are you really?" Liam stared at the man. It had only been a few months since he had raged at Liam, and now, though still mostly unresponsive, he was tolerating Sharon's games and had even gained enough of her favour to be called Xerx-nii? Lady Shelly was truly working miracles. Break returned Liam's gaze with his one red eye, and nodded. Liam shuffled nervously under his scrutiny.

"Well, then, I hope you shall have a lovely time." And with that, he had backed out of the room, and gone to look elsewhere for help with his window, slightly unnerved by what he had just seen. 'Well, and why shouldn't he be playing with Sharon?' he reasoned.

'We don't know where he came from, what he did before.' he countered.

'But Lady Sheryl and Lady Shelly trust him enough to leave him with Sharon.' And Liam couldn't come up with a good-enough counter-argument for that.

After that, Liam didn't avoid Break anymore. He didn't exactly go looking for him, but he didn't leave the room whenever he was present. And he was present, more and more as time went by. By spring, he was joining them for dinner, though never when they had guests over. People who had heard the rumours of the mysterious stranger who had been taken in by the Rainsworths were inclined to stare at and cross-question him, which Break disliked immensely. Sometimes, when there no guests, he would contribute to the conversation, at first only when prompted, "What do you, think, Break?" "Won't that be nice, Xerx-nii?" But after a while, he would volunteer an opinion, or an observation.

The warm weather allowed them to spend more time outdoors, and Lady Shelly and Sharon would spend at least an hour or two of the afternoon in the garden each day with Break. Sharon would play, and Shelly and Break would talk quietly until Sharon came and insisted they join in her game. Sometimes Liam joined them- he still loved to play outdoors, though the work assigned him by Lady Sheryl often kept him busy. One day they were sitting in the meadow by the house, and Sharon was braiding daisy chains. Finished, she got up and draped it over Break's head like a crown. At first he looked surprised, but then he thanked her, and smiled. That was the first time Liam had seen him do so, and though it didn't quite reach his eye, it lit his face up and was a sharp contrast from his previous serious face. As time went by, he smiled more and more often. Usually for Sharon and Lady Shelly, but sometimes for other people if what they said had amused him.

In early summer, Break borrowed a rapier from the Rainsworth armory and started to go to the courtyard in the mornings to practice sword-fighting. He was soon the talk of the household, a demon with a blade, they said, and none of the men, even the guards, could defeat him. He went through all the members of the household who had any skill with a blade until finally the only one left who hadn't fought him was Liam.

"But I'm no good with a sword!" he protested, as he was shoved towards Break by the circle of onlookers. He'd been trained, of course, and could at least put up a bit of a fight against a regular swordsman, but from what he'd seen, he didn't have a chance against the white-haired demon Break became with a weapon in hand. But seeing he had no choice, he resigned himself to his fate and determined to put up the best fight he could.

It was over quickly. Break lunged; Liam blocked, and tried to return with a blow of his own. His blade met with Break's steel; the tip of the blade came to within a centimeter of his face, and, in what seemed a deliberate move, deftly flicked his glasses away.

"You idiot, Xerxes!" cried Liam. He hadn't meant to be so familiar, but with his anger the man's first name just slipped out.

"So you do have some spirit in you. I didn't think you could get mad," said Break, amused, and though his face was blurry in Liam's vision, he could hear the wicked grin in his voice.

"When you knock off my glasses, of course I'm going to get mad!" Liam was squinting down at the floor, trying to locate his glasses, but not wanting to move in case he stepped on them.

"Sorry, sorry. I seem to have habit of doing it, too, don't I?" He didn't sound sorry, but still Break bent down, and retrieved Liam's glasses.

"Thank you," said Liam, snatching them from him and putting them back in place. Thank goodness they hadn't broken on the hard cobblestones.

"Well, let's call it a day then," said Break. "We can't have poor Liam breaking his glasses, now can we."

Liam collected himself to return Break's salute, and then joined the rest of the crowd in going back up to the house.

That incident seemed to have established a certain...not a bond, that wasn't the right word, but perhaps an understanding between the two of them. Break had discovered that Liam made an excellent target for teasing; he got some good reactions out of him, and Liam, for his part, was willing to tolerate them. Despite himself, he actually came to look forward to Break's company, and the banter they began to share more and more as time went by.


	4. Chapter 4

Later that year, Liam returned to the Barma house, and so he saw much less of the Rainsworths and of Break. He missed their company. At the Barma mansion, it was just himself and the Duke along with a household of servants. Not to mention Duke Barma's illusions that haunted the corners of rooms, and make eerie noises echo down the hallways late into the night. Liam had forgotten about them during his stay with the Rainsworths, and so it took him a while to become accustomed to them again, but before long, he barely batted an eye when a bizarre, twisted creature would saunter into whatever room he happened to be in to summon him to his master. He would just get up with a sigh, and follow it to Duke Barma's study, wondering what his master wanted from him this time. It usually involved more work for Liam.

In the fall, he heard that Break had been made an official guard of the Rainsworth household, and by Midwinter, he had also joined Pandora and made a contract with a Chain.

"Which Chain did you contract with?" he asked Break, when he saw him at the Rainsworth's New Year's party.

"He's not going to tell you that, silly goose," said Emily. Emily was Sharon's doll which, at some point, Break had taken to carrying around on his shoulder, and using ventriloquism to make it seem as if the doll was making snide comments. At first it was to amuse Sharon, but now the doll was almost a constant part of Break's persona, which seemed to be getting stranger by the day.

"Shush, Emily," said Break, talking to the doll as if it was a living thing. "Be nicer to our dear Liam." To Liam he replied, with mischief in his eye, "What will you give me if I tell you?"

Liam sighed. "I'll find out sooner or later, without your telling me."

"Aww, Liaaaam, you're no fun," whined Break. Liam started to walk away, doing his best to ignore Break, who was making silly faces, and poking at him.

"Fine." said Break in a pouty voice, once he realized Liam wouldn't succumb. "It's the Mad Hatter."

"THE Mad Hatter?" asked Liam. One of the most powerful Chains; its specialty lay in killing other Chains.

"The very same," said Break, serious now, and before Liam could ask him anything more, he changed the subject, "Don't all the Rainsworth ladies look lovely tonight?"

Liam let it slide. But he thought that the Mad Hatter would perhaps suit Break, given his current personality, so different from the man who had arrived from the Abyss barely over a year ago. He wondered, as he had often done in that year, what Break had been like before whatever tragedy had brought him to them. Liam doubted he would ever find out. If he ever did, it certainly wouldn't be from Break.

A couple of years passed. Liam was kept busy with his studies. He saw Break intermittently, mostly when he visited the Rainsworths. Little Sharon, who was now not quite so little, was still devoted to him. She was slowly growing out of dolls and playing silly games like tag, and would instead spend a large amount of time telling Liam about the book she was reading or something she had been taught recently by her tutor. Her education was also being intensified- she was a Rainsworth woman after all, and would likely lead the house someday in the future, and so she spent more and more time at her own studies.

When Liam was fifteen, Duke Barma decided he was finally ready to join Pandora. It was a desk job, of course, and even with the influence of one of the most powerful Duke houses, Liam still had to start at the bottom of the totem pole and work his way up. He shared an office with 3 other young people, two men and a woman, all a couple of years older than Liam. They were friendly to Liam, and did their best to include him in their conversations. He liked them well enough, and they him. But they spent a great deal of time chatting and gossiping about people Liam didn't know, and Liam, who took his new job very seriously, found their chatter slightly irritating when he was trying to work. He didn't snap at them- it wasn't his place- but eventually they figured out not to interrupt him when he had his working face on. This was something he wished a certain other person could learn as well.

From the moment Liam had arrived at Pandora, Break seemed to have made it his mission to disrupt Liam as much as possible. He would appear quite suddenly from under Liam's desk, and then lounge about on top of it.

"Busy as usual, Liam," he would say, a glint in his eye.

"Slacking off as usual, Xerxes Break," Liam would reply. And they'd banter back and forth, until either Break got bored or Liam shouted at him to go away, he was trying to work! Their exchanges almost always ended with Break dumping a mound of his paperwork on Liam, saying "You do it much better than I can, Liam!" in a singsong voice, and then departing. The whole thing served greatly to amuse his colleagues, who were also somewhat baffled by the friendship between the two. Liam found out soon enough that Break had made no friends at Pandora. Certainly, there weren't many who outright disliked the man, but most people found him too strange and unpredictable to really be able to get along with him.

From the paperwork, Liam got a pretty decent idea of what Break was doing in the field. It was dangerous work to be sure, but Liam never quite grasped the toll it was taking on Break until sometime after he had joined Pandora. Liam had been working late that evening, and so he was heading to the bedroom at headquarters he had been given. Though he officially still lived at the Barma mansion, he didn't go back there much these days, preferring the independence a room of his own at Pandora gave him. Not to mention the food in the cafeteria was just as good as anything Barma's cook could come up with, if not better for the lack of disturbing illusions present while he was eating.

Liam had just turned into the corridor that lead to the sleeping quarters of Pandora when he caught the sound of slow footsteps coming his way. He turned, and there was Break, hunched over and not quite looking where he was going. He almost walked right into Liam, and would have done, if Liam hadn't moved to the side, and then caught Break by the arm. He was wearing his Pandora uniform, Liam noted, instead of that ridiculous coat with the overlong sleeves that covered his hands, so he must have just gotten back from a mission.

"Ah, Liam," said Break, and though there was an attempt at his usual playfulness, Liam could hear the exhaustion in it. Before he could reply, Break was seized by a sudden coughing fit. He waved Liam off when he started forward to help, and Liam saw a dark substance on his sleeve.

"Xerxes, what's that?" he said, taking the man's arm again, this time by the wrist.

"Nothing for you to worry about," he retorted, trying to pull away, and in so doing, moving into the light of the hall lamp. Now Liam could see the traces of blood around his mouth.

"Are you ill, Xerxs?" he asked, his worry bringing out the rarely-used nickname.

For a moment there was silence. Then Break sighed, and shut his eye, as if he'd been dreading this conversation. "I'm dying." he said, "The strain of my contract is too much on my body. I get like this when I've been using my Chain."

Liam widened his eyes. "I see," was all he could manage. That Break was so worn down, he had barely tried to hide it from him spoke volumes about the toll his condition was taking on the man. His mind sought to process this information. "How-"

"How long do I have?" Break interrupted, anticipating his question. "A decade at best, I think, before everything shuts down." He managed a wry smile, "But don't you worry your little head over it, Li-" He broke off, wracked by another coughing fit.

"Moron." said Liam, "Of course I'm going to worry. Is there anything that can be done? Could you just stop using the Hatter?"

"Not going to happen," said Break flatly, "Not until I've done what I need to." His tone brooked no further questioning.

"Fine," said Liam. "But for now you're going to get some rest. What will you do if Lady Sharon ever sees you like this?"

He thought Break might have muttered "She already has," as Liam began to help him down the corridor to his room, but he could just have been imagining things.


	5. Chapter 5

More time passed. The idea of Break dying seemed distant and unreal to Liam, and so he put it out of his mind as best he could. However, he did make the decision to keep an eye on him, and prevent him from overexerting himself as much as possible. Liam's main focus was on his own work. His competence quickly got him moved up the ranks of Pandora, to the point where his duties expanded to more than just paperwork. He was in charge of certain aspects of personnel, of regulating missions, and in general of keeping Pandora in working order. This put him in such a position that he was the first to receive Lady Sharon's official application to join Pandora.

When he first saw it on his desk, he froze. Several thought ran through his brain, the foremost one being "But she's still just a child!" But she wasn't anymore. She was thirteen, and though far from being an adult, was no longer that little girl who had been so determined to make a big brother out of Xerxes Break. The papers were all in order. She had all the necessary recommendations, including one from Lady Sheryl. All the application required to pass was his signature, and two others from Pandora members. Once that was done, she would be going down to the Gate to make a contract with a Chain.

"Did you know about this?" he asked Break, when the man sauntered into Liam's new office later that afternoon.

"Of course," he replied, without batting an eye-lid. "I was hoping you'd assign us as partners when she becomes a contractor."

So Break and Sharon had been conspiring, had they? Liam wasn't surprised- the two were as thick as thieves these days. Break had probably roped Sharon into whatever that secret project of his was. He found himself getting angry.

"Are you mad, Xerxes? Do you really think it's alright for someone as young and inexperienced as Sharon to become a contractor? What if something goes wrong with the contract? What if the Chain's too strong for her?" He realized he was shouting, but he didn't care. The words he'd been bottling up since this morning just kept spilling out. "What about if she stops ageing like you did? She'll be stuck in the body of a thirteen year old forever! Of if her contract takes the same toll on her that yours does on you? Did you think about any of that, before you put it into her head that NOW would be the best time for her to join Pandora?!"

He finally stopped, panting, and waited for Break's reaction. The older man's face was a combination of surprise, amusement and something else that Liam couldn't quite place. But when he spoke, he didn't try to shake things off with a joke, like he might have done over any other topic.

"She's ready for this, Liam. She's been preparing for it for a long time. And if Lady Sheryl thinks she's ready, then she must be. You've know Sharon longer than I have, Liam. You're like a brother to her, so you should know better than anyone what she's capable of." He sounded almost as if he was trying to convince himself of this as much as Liam.

Liam looked down at his desk. Break was right. Liam was underestimating Lady Sharon. To be this worried about her just joining Pandora- well, he was certainly doing her a great injustice. And they wouldn't put her out in the field straight away. Of course she'd have time to get used to her Chain. And maybe whatever she contracted with wouldn't be suitable for combat anyway.

"Do-" began Liam, looking up again. But Break was already gone.

In the end, Liam signed the papers- what choice did he have?- and a month later Lady Sharon descended to the Rainsworth's Gate. Liam wasn't permitted to be there, but when he heard Sharon had contracted with Equus, he breathed a small sigh of relief. A non-combat Chain, thank goodness, though a valuable enough asset that she would likely be called to use it once she had mastered the creature.

It was later that same year that Duke Barma finally decided it was Liam's turn to get a Chain of his own.

"You've been a member of Pandora too long without one," he told Liam. Scarcely two weeks after this pronouncement was Liam marched down to face the Barma's Gate, and told to call for a Chain known as the Roe.

The Gate swung wide, and Liam saw the Abyss for the first time. The feeling it gave him reminded him strongly of the time that Break had arrived- the coldness, the strange pressure, and the lack of sound so profound it was almost a sound itself. A chill ran down his spine, but he collected himself (if Sharon could do this at thirteen, he could certainly do it at seventeen) and called out into the swirling void before him for the Roe. There was no response. He called again, and still nothing. He began to doubt himself. What if no Chain would have him? What would his master say if he came back without a Chain? How could he properly serve Pandora? Just as he was beginning to feel the first signs of panic, he heard a voice at the edge of his conscious.

"Who are you?" he asked. The reply came, not as words, but as sudden knowledge implanted in his brain: ~March Hare~

"Are you a Chain?" Silly question, given where he was standing, but he had to ask.

~Yes~ came the reply.

Liam hesitated. Well, it was not the Chain he had been told to contract with, but the Roe was nowhere in sight. He wasn't familiar with the March Hare; it had not been in his book of Chains, but the feeling he was getting from this Chain was that they would be suited to each other, or as suited as a human and a creature of the Abyss could be.

"Will you form a contract with me?"

~Yes~

Liam held up the Contractor's mirror, and recited the words he had learned by heart to seal them together.

"So?" asked Duke Barma later, as Liam faced him in his study. "Did you succeed?"

"Not exactly," said Liam. He was exhausted from making the contract, and could feel a headache coming on. He pinched the bridge of his nose in a vain effort to dispel it. "The Roe wasn't around. But I contracted with another Chain called the March Hare. I... don't know what its powers are yet, though."

Barma was silent for a time. Liam suspected he was communicating with his Chain, the Dodo, to find out what it knew about the Hare.

"I see," he said at last. "You must tell no one which Chain you have contracted with. Should anyone find out, its powers will be rendered useless."

After his meeting with the Duke, Liam went straight to his room, and flopped onto his bed, utterly spent. He slept through the afternoon, and on to the next morning. When he woke up, the first thing he did was try to communicate with his new Chain.

'What's your power, March Hare?' he asked in his head.

~I can make you fall into a deep sleep to mimic death~ it told him.

Liam felt a bit disappointed. That was it? After all the time he had spent preparing for this moment, he had contracted with a Chain whose only use was to protect himself at a dire moment, a power Liam hoped he'd never have to use. But after a moment, he laughed wryly. It suited him, he thought. He'd always known he wasn't a fighter. And now that position was confirmed for life.

A few days later at Pandora, Break came into Liam's office, and as usual flopped sideways into the chair in front of Liam's desk.

"So, Liaaam. I hear you got yourself a Chain? Who'd you get?" He took a candy from the pot that Liam kept on his desk just for Break's visits.

"That's none of your business, Xerxes."

"Why, Liam, it's unlike you to be so secretive."

"You mean like you are, Xerxes?"

"Touché. But c'mon, you can tell me. Is it that embarrassing?" he leaned over the desk.

"No, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. its power is invalid if people know about it."

"Oh, well then. Keep your little mysteries to yourself." Break looked somewhat displeased as he rose to leave. "Ta-ta, Liam!"

"Xerxes!" Liam called after him, "You forgot this." He balled up Break's discarded candy wrapper, and chucked it at him. "Throw it out somewhere other than on my desk!"

Break caught the wrapper deftly, and grinned. Then he turned around, and bounced out of the office.


	6. Chapter 6

And then came the time of the coming of age ceremony of Oz Vessalius, the heir to the Vessalius house. It was quite a big to-do among the upper classes, though no-one quite expected it to be as memorable as it was. All of the major houses sent representatives, and so naturally Liam was in attendance as a servant of the Barma house. Lady Sharon and Break went earlier in the day to pay their respects to young Oz, as Lady Shelly, who would normally have gone, had taken ill. They couldn't stay, of course. One of Liam's fears about Sharon's Contract had been realized; she had stopped ageing, and though an entire year had passed, her appearance had not changed a single bit. She was therefore forbidden by the rules of Pandora to take part in any society gatherings. This annoyed her to no end, and so after every event, she begged Liam to tell her about it - who was there, what they were wearing, who talked with whom and about what. And so Liam found yet another good use for his excellent memory, and was almost always able to relate all the details she required. He had a rapt audience in Lady Sharon, and he enjoyed spending time with her, something they had done much less over the years, as they were both busy with work.

The coming of age ceremony started out normal enough. Liam, seated near the back of the crowd of onlookers, watched as young Oz ascended the steps of the hall to the stage. But soon enough, everything dissolved into chaos. Afterwards, no-one, not even Liam, to his everlasting annoyance, could remember exactly what had taken place. All that anyone knew was that the Vessalius heir was gone, disappeared, as if he had never been. All Liam could recall were some hazy impressions and images- a giant, scythe-wielding rabbit, a group of people in red capes, and that cold feeling he associated with the Abyss.

The next few weeks at Pandora were especially hectic, as everyone tried to put together the pieces. Liam rushed about, organizing committees and meetings, filing reports, and answering the myriad questions that were posed to him. And always there were the whispers of Baskervilles. Given the many garbled accounts that Liam stitched together, there was one likely conclusion- Oz Vessalius had been pulled into the Abyss. How, why, and if it actually had anything to do with the Baskervilles could not be answered. When and if Oz would appear again was anybody's guess, but for the moment there didn't seem to be anything that could be done. It was frustrating, not having the answers, but as time went by, people gave up on the search.

All except Break, who had taken a great interest in the case, and though he did his best to hide it from him, Liam suspected he was working on a plan behind Pandora's back, possibly to recover young Oz, and possibly to uncover the truth. Liam did bring the matter up a few times over the first few months after the ceremony, but Break always skirted around the issue, and Lady Sharon, who was most definitely in on whatever Break had up his sleeve, was even more skilled at politely and subtly deflecting the conversation. So Liam let it go, and life returned to almost normal for a year or so.

Liam's first field mission for Pandora occurred sometime after his nineteenth birthday. Things had been quiet for a while, but now there was an illegal contractor on the loose, a pretty powerful one that was causing all kinds of trouble, and Liam was sent with the team to bring him down. He wouldn't have gone at all- he didn't usually, but a rather nasty flu had been ravaging Pandora that autumn, and by the end of October, over half the members were down with it. Liam was one of the lucky ones- in part because of his own naturally strong constitution, and also because one of the March Hare's lesser powers was a certain amount of protection from diseases.

And so it was that one grey November day, Liam, Break, Sharon and several others headed out to deal with the illegal contractor. Nobody really expected Liam to have to do any fighting- he was coming along more as a counter-measure and so that Break wouldn't have to write up a report afterwards- but he still carried his pistol in his jacket, just in case.

They arrived in the area of town where the Chain had been most recently spotted sometime around midnight. The wide main road ran along the river bank, and numerous small side streets and back alleys connected to it, running in between the buildings. There were plenty of places the contractor and his Chain could be hiding, but here in the open, they would likely have a good amount of warning of their approach.

What they didn't count on was the Chain's powers. One minute there were standing in the deserted street, and the next minute they were standing in a thick fog that had swooped in like an owl in the darkness. All of a sudden Liam could scarcely see his own hand before him, and sounds became weirdly distorted. He quickly lost track of the others, and became all turned around. He shouted all their names in turn, but could only half-hear the echo-like replies, and could not pinpoint their location. There was a crunch of feet somewhere in front of him, and he moved forward cautiously, his hand moving to his pistol.

"Xerxes? Is that you?" As he approached, he detected a form within the fog. "Lady Sharon?"

The shadow lunged forward, and all at once he could see that it was much, much bigger than it had at first seemed. He got an impression of giant eyes that glowed red, a long, thick body with many legs, and a head topped by horns before it bowled him over. His hand moved reflexively on his pistol, and he got off a shot at the creature before he had the wind knocked out of him as he hit the pavement with a heavy thud. The bullet bounced harmlessly off its thick hide, and Liam's pistol went skittering away across the pavement. The Chain loomed over him, giant fangs snapping. Liam couldn't move, fear and lack of air freezing his body in place.

A gust of wind blew out of nowhere, stirring Liam's hair, and then Break was there, sword out, and the Mad Hatter in all its fearsomeness before him. The Hatter struck the other Chain with its power at the same time Break thrust at its eye with his sword. The Chain recoiled, and the fog began to dispel as the creature lost some of its power. Liam, slowly regaining his breath, watched in awe. This was the first time he had seen Break fight with the Hatter, and it was truly a sight to be seen. They worked perfectly together as a team.

Movement caught Liam's eye, and he turned his head away from the battle to see a man approaching. He wasn't a Pandora member, but he held in his hand a long, sharp knife. There was madness in his eyes, and Liam understood at once that this was the Chain's contractor. He was in Break's blind spot, so the other man, still engaged with the Chain, hadn't seen him yet. As the contractor picked up speed, knife directed towards Break, Liam tried to cry out, but there still wasn't enough air in his lungs to make enough noise. He could see his pistol over by the lamp post, but it was too far to reach in time. So instead, using all of his strength, he flung himself at the contractor, grabbing at the knife, and directing the man away from Break.

They struggled. Dimly, Liam was aware of Sharon running towards them, Equus at her side, and calling their names, but his opponent held most of his attention. Though Liam was taller, the other man was more heavily built, and the knife was only inches away from Liam face, and getting closer. At last and with great effort, he managed to push the man away from himself, and into the path of Break. He had finished dealing with the Chain, and lost no time in dealing with its master. But in his efforts to shove the contractor away, Liam lost his balance and fell backwards. What he hadn't noticed was that, during the fight, they had ended up right on the edge of the river bank, and Liam tumbled down it, head over heels, into the darkness below.


	7. Chapter 7

Liam hit the bottom of the bank hard. A sharp, twisting pain shot up his ankle, and he nearly passed out. When he came to himself a moment later, he noticed his glasses had disappeared during his fall.

"Not again," he muttered. He gingerly felt around for them, with no luck, and then he squinted up the river bank. It seemed taller and steeper than he remembered, probably a good ten metres or so to the top, and almost vertical. There was no way he was going to be able to get back up there with an ankle that he thought was most likely broken.

"Damn!" he swore, but there was no helping it. He'd have to wait for Sharon to come and get him with Equus. He did his best to settle into a comfortable position without moving his foot too much, and then leant back against the side of the bank. The light from the streetlamps didn't reach all the way down here. It was far too dark to see the river itself or much of anything really, though he could hear the flow of the water a few feet in front of him. He shut his eyes. Time passed, though how much he wasn't sure. It could have been minutes, or only seconds.

'They saw me fall; I wonder what could be taking them so long,' he thought.

He felt himself drifting off, and opened his eyes abruptly. He shook his head fiercely in an effort to clear it. 'No, stay awake, Liam!' he told himself sternly.

To keep himself occupied, he continued his mental conversation. 'Well, this was a bit of a disaster for your first mission, wasn't it? Got knocked down the second that Chain appeared. Yes, you're definitely better suited for an office. Much more useful, and nobody has to come and save you from rogue Chains.'

"Or from falling down river banks," came a familiar, somewhat amused voice from the darkness.

"Is that you, Break?" asked Liam. Then, realizing what Break had said, blushed slightly from embarrassment. "I hadn't realized I was speaking aloud."

"You do that a lot, actually, when you think no one's listening," said Break's voice, closer this time.

"I do?"

"Yes. It's pretty fun to listen to, actually." Liam wasn't sure how to feel about that, but resolved to keep his personal thought in his own head from now on. He felt Break hands wrap around his arms. "Equus brought me down here. Can you stand?"

"My ankle..." said Liam, and winced and tried not to pass out again as Break helped him to his feet, allowing Liam to lean on him to take his weight off his foot.

"The contractor?" he asked.

"Taken care of," said Break. "His Chain was pretty powerful, but in the end it was too much for him to control. With it out of the way, he was easy to take out."

Together, they stepped (or Break stepped, and Liam hopped awkwardly) into Equus' shadow and were transported back up to street level. "I'm going to have to talk to someone about building a better barrier along the river bank," muttered Liam, and heard Break give a sharp bark of laughter.

"Oh, here, I found these," Break handed him his glasses, as a blur that was Sharon rushed towards them.

"Liam! You're hurt!" she cried.

"Thanks," said Liam to Break, putting them on. The blur before him resolved to reveal Sharon's worried face. To her, he said, "I think it's just a broken ankle. It hurts like nobody's business, but it will heal given time." He sounded braver and in less pain than he felt.

"You did really well, saving Xerxes from that contractor's ambush. And your gunshot let us all know where the Chain was." Liam blushed slightly under her praise. He supposed the mission hadn't been a complete failure on his part if he had earned Lady Sharon's approval.

"I guess we saved each other, right, Xerxes?"

"Hmm, I don't know, Liam. I saved you from the river bank too. I'd say you still owe me one. Tell you what, I'll let you write up all the reports for this mission, Liam, and we'll call it even."

Liam was about to protest, but at that moment a carriage arrived to take them back to Pandora, and so he sighed, and let himself be helped into it.

Liam had broken his ankle, the doctor confirmed it, and so Liam spent the next month limping around Pandora on crutches, trying to get his work done. He was told, many times, that he ought to be taking it easy, but that was never in Liam's nature. The initial humiliation of being injured on his first job quickly faded, and it wasn't long before he was laughing about the whole thing. Still, he hoped he wouldn't be called out to the field again in a hurry.

The day Liam was finally able to put aside his crutches for good, Sharon invited him over to the Rainsworth house for tea.

"What's the occasion?" he asked when he arrived, still limping slightly, but glad to be properly mobile once more.

"To celebrate your recovery," said Sharon, "And because we- " she indicated herself and Break, who was devouring a crème caramel, "- haven't seen you in a while, since you've been so busy."

"I'm truly honoured," said Liam, and seeing Break's fork snaking towards his own cake, snatched it out of the other man's reach. "Though you can blame _him_ for a lot of it." But underneath his feigned annoyance, Liam was having a good time. He hadn't realized how much he had missed quiet, calm days like this, with no work to be done, just friends to spend time with.

They spent the afternoon together, chatting and bantering good-naturedly around the tea table. In years to come, and especially after the reappearance of young Oz Vessalius served as the catalyst for events that would shake Pandora to its core, Liam was glad to have this moment of light and happiness to look back to. It would keep him going through the dark times, this memory of being together with his two dearest friends. And he knew he would do all he could to help and to protect them, regardless of what the future might hold.

~End~

_Thank you for reading!_


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